We wish you a Merry Bru-mas!

It’s always an early start, but it’s becoming something of an annual tradtion to kick off the festive season with a sneaky peek of the new Christmas specials coming up at Bru. This year we made a big deal of it, with an early Christmas party for a jolly bunch of East Midlands Bloggers.

Secret Santa!

And we did it in style! The Christmas jumpers were on, songs were sung, crackers pulled and party games played. We didn’t care that it was Halloween the day before and this was entirely messing with our seasonal calendars. Sometimes you just have to do these things.

Party hat were on and the Secret Santa was embarked up on with gusto. I had the good fortune to have the beautiful Steph from Priceless Life of Mine as my Santa, as it turned out and so I came away with a spectacular haul of kittie goodies, which have been keeping my feet, tummy and heart warm and snug today.

After we had all taken a few deep breaths and tried to calm down a little after all of the excitement, it was on to trying the highlights that will be released for Bru’s special Christmas menu in the next few weeks. First up it was seasonal hot drinks.

The Gingerbread Latte was a favourite that has long been celebrated on the Bru menu, but the little guys themselves don’t make an appearance throughout the year, being shy and all. Although it is quite a sweet latte, the spicing is so robust that it really works and does taste like liquid gingerbread – just what we all needed on a very cool evening!

The hot chocolates were also a delight, served to us in taster jars, but available to your good selves in full size Kilner jar splendour. The Chocolate Orange was definitely my favourite, but apparently the Oreo is the best seller, so I’ll leave it up to you. They are both sweet, warming and rich.

On to the incredible looking cakes, and we enjoyed a slice of the full size specialities. My favourite was the cherry and amaretti cheese cake because I am a sucker for anything cherry, but that is not to take anything away from the lemon tart. That had a pleasing sharpness and beautifully soft pastry. To be honest, all the hefty full-on Christmas flavours can get too much for me sometimes, so this is a great alternative in that respect.

The gingerbread cheesecakes did not do it for me so much, but I think I was all gingerbreaded out after the latte. If you like something that is rich and creamy, with just a subtle hint of ginger, then this will most definitely be your bag. The black forest gateaux roulade on the other hand, I was all over. This has been my favourite dessert since I was a kid and although I don’t have it so much now (what with the world offering much more choice than it did in the 80s) I still always have a soft spot in my heart for it. True to form, this was the only dessert which I ate the whole piece of, and considering the mammoth cake marathon we had embarked on, I think that is high praise indeed.

Finally, there was a chocolate truffle bundt cake which surprised me with its lightness. On appearances it looked like it would be one heavy mofo, but it was really the softest sponge and a delicious dark chocolate coating. So full of festive cheer and sugar, I made my way home.

Thanks to Bru for inviting me along and filling me full of delightful treats and of course to East Midlands Bloggers and #ItsBruMas for the fantastic company, the questionable Christmas song singing and the all round delight. I feel like I can barely wait for The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.